The center was injured in a 4-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets on March 1. He played in a 5-2 loss at Winnipeg on March 2 but did not complete the morning skate March 4 and has not practiced with teammates since.
"I don't think we're going to see him now," Canucks coach Travis Green said Thursday. "He's been pushing hard to get back. I'm not going to get into the specifics of the injury itself right now. There's a time and place for that, probably at the end of the season. But I can tell you we were hopeful that he was going to play. We weren't being coy about it. We wanted him back."
Pettersson is expected to be ready for next season.
"I'm under the understanding he's going to be fine," Green said.
Pettersson scored 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 26 games, including 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his final 14 games. He scored 66 points in each of his first two NHL seasons, including 27 goals in 68 games last season.
"I'm good friends with him, so I keep in contact with him," Vancouver forward Brock Boeser said. "It just [stinks] to get an injury like that and to miss this much time. Obviously I've been there. Missing games isn't fun. I really thought he was really playing his best hockey right before he got injured there too. Obviously he's a big part of this group and we miss him."
Pettersson scored 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games last season, tying for the Canucks lead with forward J.T. Miller (six goals, 12 assists), to help the Canucks advance to the Western Conference Second Round. They lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in seven games.
"He's obviously a huge part of our team," Green said. "He's going to end up missing [30] games of our season. That's a lot. Do we miss him? Yeah, of course. That's about all I can say about it now."
Vancouver (21-27-3) is last in the seven-team Scotia North Division and will not qualify for the playoffs. The Canucks have five games remaining, beginning against the Calgary Flames on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SN, ESPN+, NHL.TV).
